The Range
Covering over 3 million acres, the Australian Alps stretch from a little east of Melbourne to the outskirts of Canberra. A place of Australia’s highest mountains and a source of our longest rivers, it contains, along with pockets in Tasmania, the only regularly snow-covered land on the continent.
Much of the land is protected in some of our largest national parks: Alpine and Snowy River in Victoria, Kosciuszko in NSW and Namadgi in the ACT.
Photo - Mike Edmondson
As I discovered in 1997, crossing this land in winter is a huge challenge. It is one still rarely attempted and more rarely again completed. Blizzards, rain, thick bush, navigational challenges, river crossings and distance all conspire to stymie progress. But then of course blue-sky days, moonlit nights, snow covered ranges, mountain huts balance the ledger. More than balance the ledger.
Tucked away in the ranges are a dozen snow resorts; communities that live for sliding and falling on the white stuff. Communities that have suffered much in recent years.
Parts of the alpine country, like so much of the country, saw tourism, its economic lifeblood, taken away by our blackest of summers in 2019-20. The fires themselves spared the highest mountains and the communities around them but it had been close. The northern end of Kosciuszko National Park though, was devastated, including the ski resort of Mount Selwyn. Twisted, blackened ski lift towers amidst twisted, blackened tree trunks.
Then came autumn 2020, then came Covid. Lockdowns killed the seasons of 2020 and 2021 for so many. Whilst challenges absolutely remain from the pandemic, every alpine community, every resort wanted to celebrate in the winter of 2022. And I wanted to celebrate with them during my Odyssey.
Each season is different, and it is impossible to know what winter will bring until that winter is finished. It is the nature of snow, very much the nature of the Australian snow country. The winter of 2020 was less than average, that of 2021 well above. 2022 had good snow up high but the lower altitudes suffered from too much rain and warmer temperatures. This is the undoubted trend of of climate change. A trend I have witnessed this past 35 years and one borne out by the science.
For sure climate change is taking a toll on our alpine land. The ECG like graph of year-on-year snowfalls shows a deeper malaise. Over the past 50 years average snow depth in Australia has dropped by a quarter. The big years are more widespread, the snow level higher. All who live, work and play in the high country recognise this now.
And less snow doesn’t just mean less fun for us. It threatens the existence of our alpine animals and plants, as does its ugly parent, warmer average temperatures across the year.
Dieback, trampling by feral horses, digging by feral pigs all join the family of threats. No wonder the mighty Bogong Moth, once prevalent in the millions each summer, seems to have turned away from its home. The great First Nations tribes who gathered in these mountains for thousands of years, to gorge on the protein the Bogong provides, would find slim pickings now.
The Resorts
The Skier’s Dozen
Check out the 12 resorts I hope to visit on my journey and don’t forget you could be King or Queen of the Mountain of your choice, by purchasing one of the resorts for my Our Yarning fundraising.
Lake Mountain
The closest resort to Melbourne and reached from Marysville, Lake Mountain is very much a XC skiers resort with some 35km of groomed trails. The whole area was badly damaged in the 2009 Black Saturday fires but is very much back in business now.
Mount Baw Baw
Mainland Australia’s most southerly snow resort and a firm family favourite. After a day on the lifts, I’ll set off on my merry way into the mountains.
Mount Stirling
Nudging up against Mount Buller but a very different place, Stirling has no lifts but offers a network of groomed XC trails and some lovely backcountry touring and runs. After a challenging access well off my main route, I’ll look forward to a night at one of the huts and a ski with some of the ski school staff from Stirling Experience
Mount Buller
Only 3.5 hours from Melbourne, Buller is very much a favourite destination for skiers and boarders. But it is a resort I have never skied, so am very keen to enjoy its lifts and runs.
Mount Hotham
Perched on a ridge and laying claim to being Australia’s highest village, Hotham is popular with all snowsports enthusiasts and offers some exhilarating terrain within and close to the resort. I completed my XC ski instructor training here but it has been too long since my last visit.
Dinner Plain
12km down the road from Hotham, the pretty but modern village of Dinner Plain is very much a feeder for that resort. It does however have a network of XC ski trails and one short Poma lift.
Falls Creek
A 2 day ski across the Bogong High Plains will get me to Falls Creek, sister resort to Hotham, and one with a real variety of skiing. Falls is also renowned for the quality of its XC skiing and hosts Australia’s largest XC ski race, the Kangaroo Hoppet. I hope to get there in time for it…
Mount Buffalo
Summer or winter, Buffalo really is a spectacular place with some of Australia’s highest cliffs dropping from its plateau and strange tors and rock pinnacles rising from it. Buffalo has a long history of skiing but the lifts lie idle now and a small network of XC ski trails wind across it. I’ll need to make a special diversionary day trip to enjoy its delights.
Thredbo
Toward the end of last season, 0.5m of powder dropped on Thredbo. It took me a couple of days for my leg muscles to recover, and a week to stop the smile. The closest Australian resort to our highest mountain and with our highest lifted point, Thredbo is a grand place to be and ski.
Charlotte Pass
While I’ve worked in the Snowies as a backcountry guide for aeons, this snowbound little village is the only resort I’ve worked the season at. Twice, in 1986 and in 1994. I’ve a soft spot for Charlottes and try and ski a day or two here each season.
Perisher
With 1245 hectares of terrain and 47 lifts, Perisher is Australia’s largest resort. Everyone has their favourite area but it often breaks into choosing one of the four areas that make up the resort – Perisher, Smiggins, Blue Cow and Guthega. With a season pass most seasons, I know Perisher better than any other ski area, but will very much look forward to some runs when I get there.
Mount Selwyn
The final resort of my journey is Mount Selwyn. This family focused resort was almost completely destroyed in the Black Summer fires in January 2020. Despite the challenges of Covid and wet summers since, it was on track to reopen for the 2022 winter with all new facilities and lifts.
I hoped to celebrate the reopening, close to the end of my journey. However in the cruelest of ironies, the biggest early season snows in two decades buried the resort and stopped the finla construction work, meaning the reopening has been postponed to winter 2023. I will still ski a few runs there as I pass through.
